Making your own arcade unit? What about some other DIY project that uses buttons? Buttons that don’t glow are mundane and unattractive, so why not make your own illuminating buttons? Playing arcade games in the dark is tough without being able to see what button you’re mashing down upon. Thankfully, Hacknmod has written up a great how to guide on ...

Here’s a great way to eavesdrop on an unknowing sap’s conversation. Objects in Flux’s Scott Mitchell has turned a vintage lamp into a parabolic microphone for recording. It’s got volume control and a headphone socket mounted in the lamps base. This way, no one other than the headphone wearer gets to hear the goods. And by goods I mean the ...

The Chinese are incredibly smart and tactile. My roommate must be the one exception to the rule, though. I went to brush my teeth the other day and found him building a server rack inside our shower. After some frustration, I skipped that and went straight for the coffee. Sure enough, the coffee maker was rigged with an Arduino and ...

Who would’ve thought an old Apple Powerbook and a trip to IKEA would be all it takes to create a sweet home arcade. Frederic Sebton took apart his old Powerbook and mounted the monitor and guts inside an IKEA side table, with the screen showing up through a hole cut out of the top of the table. After mounting an ...

It’s the middle of July and that means those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are really feeling the heat. With my current apartment, I have no air conditioning in my bedroom and during the day it becomes unbearable at times when temps start reaching the 90s. I need a way to cool off. Thankfully, Instructables user Farhanians has posted ...

Have a bunch of old hard drives collecting dust in your closet? Why not turn them into something practical? You could turn one into an orchestra of annoying buzzing sounds or perhaps a clock. Jipa of Metku Mods has turned his deadbeat HDD into a grinder for sanding or sharpening. All it took was a little re-arranging of disks and ...

Who doesn’t love a good POV device? Watching designs come out of spinning lights is always a pleasure for people of all ages. Now you can build one on the cheap and with an Arduino if you own one. Materials are relatively easy to acquire and the results look decent. Link (via)

Robotics can be an expensive hobby but cheap robot projects do exist. Instructables member Imadami has made a DIY robot with an Arduino brain that you can build yourself for under a hundred dollars. This remote controlled robot is stocked with a pan and tilt system that could be used to aim a camera or even a USB missile launcher ...

Glass can be arranged in many ways and while it can look beautiful on its own, adding etchings or coloring can really bring a unique feel to your home. Instead of spending a small fortune on having glass etched professionally or buying expensive tools, you can easily create your own designs with some painter’s tape and other tools. If you’re ...

If you’ve ever been to Florida, you know that in the summer months it gets unbearably hot. Nothing feels worse than the heat and humidity of Florida. So when Carl Morris, a Florida resident, set out to cool his kids off, you can bet he tried damn hard. It seems that hard work and patience paid off in the form ...